FFXIII-2 has an evolved battle system

Final Fantasy XIII-2 will launch in Europe and other PAL territories next winter, Square Enix has announced.

The role-playing game features a brand-new story and an evolved battle system. Its debut screenshot is below.

XIII-2 is the direct sequel to March 2010's Final Fantasy XIII, which has shipped a cumulative total of six million units worldwide.

The team responsible for XIII is at the helm, including director Motomu Toriyama. It features a new character as well as XIII protagonist Lightning.

"Final Fantasy XIII-2 is currently in production with an aim for producing high quality game content which exceeds Final Fantasy XIII in every aspect; namely, a brand-new story which stems from the previous title as well as a battle system which has evolved further since XIII – and more," reads the press release.

"We will be disclosing further details about the new game in the future."

Toriyama said at a Tokyo press conference this morning that development is progressing well. The team is "working so that the game serves as the answer to the opinions they received about FFXIII".